New floatplane terminal Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC) has delivered on its plan to take BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) and Harbour Air Ltd. to court in a bid to have Harbour Air's nearby facility shut down.
VHFC filed the suit Thursday in the BC Supreme Court against PavCo, Harbour Air, Harbour Air executives Greg McDougall (pictured) and Randy Wright and the Vancouver Commercial Seaplane Operators Association.
The court documents claim that PavCo has breached its water lot lease with VHFC.
"It was an implied term of the water lot lease," the statement of claim reads, "that when construction of the new facility was completed and it was operational, and PavCo was so advised by VHFC, PavCo would forthwith take all necessary steps to terminate the use of the temporary facility so that it would not be in competition with the new facility."
VHFC is seeking:
- a declaration that the water lot lease includes that "implied term;"
- a declaration that PavCo has "repudiated" the lease;
- a declaration that PavCo has "breached the covenant of quiet enjoyment" in the lease; and
- undisclosed damages.
None of the allegations in the statement of claim have been proven in court.
Speaking on behalf of VHFC, Paul McElligott, president and COO of Ledcor Resources and Transportation, said VHFC has turned to the courts after other avenues of resolution failed.
"It's just been one delay tactic after another, and we haven't been successful at getting [PavCo] to take action to have the temporary facility closed," he said. "So we've become exasperated with the situation. It's not the way we like to solve commercial disputes but felt we were left with no alternative."
Earlier this month, VHFC announced its plans to turn to the court system to resolve the entrenched dispute. (See "New floatplane terminal suing PavCo" – BIV Business Today, March 13.)
